The Barnsley Central MP will visit Derby QUAD before travelling to Nottingham to visit the Nottingham Contemporary.

Jarvis explained, “Derby and Nottingham are interesting examples of how the last Labour Government’s investment in the Arts and Creative Industries sparked a new wave of opportunity for people to experience culture.

“I am looking forward to visiting the Derby QUAD, which is home to a cinema, art gallery, cafe bar and workshop. The staff at the QUAD work hard to connect people and businesses to art and film, which by extension creates opportunities for entertainment, education and participation.

“The Tory-Lib Dem Administration on Derby Council have recently withdrawn £23million of funding for culture, as a result of funding cuts to local councils from the Tory-led Government. I am extremely concerned about the effects these cuts will have in Derby and am keen to speak to the staff at the QUAD about this issue.”

The Labour MP, commissioned a report into ‘Arts in the Regions’ at the end of 2011 to explore ways of widening audience participation and engagement in the Arts.

He explained, “The Nottingham Contemporary is one of the largest contemporary art spaces in the UK, with four galleries, an auditorium, an education space, a study centre, a cafe-bar and a shop. It organises major global exhibitions, bringing the very best artists in the world to Nottingham and it uses exhibitions in imaginative ways to explore educational activity for all ages.”

The Shadow Culture Minister is on a fact-finding mission as he looks to see how frontline culture services are dealing with cuts to local authority budgets and to Arts Council England funding,

“There can be no complacency; without Labour investment, the QUAD and the Nottingham Contemporary would not exist today. That is why it is deeply worrying that Derby City Council have withdraw £23million of funding for culture.

“I understand local authorities and arts agencies have to make extremely difficult decisions because of the short-sighted and heavy-handed approach to cuts that Jeremy Hunt and Ed Vaizey have adopted, but we must do all we can to protect our arts and culture. It is imperative that we do everything we can to keep the pressure on the Government to invest in the Arts and give local authorities sufficient fiscal flexibility to sustain these vital provisions in our communities.”